Bob Franke

Consider this list: Peter, Paul and Mary; David Wilcox; John McCutcheon; Sally Rogers; Lui Collins; Garnet Rogers; June Tabor. These well-known artists (and many more) all sing and record Bob's music. Seasoned veterans and novices alike are drawn to the complex, warm-hearted spirituality and captivatingly clear-cut melodies of Franke's songs.

Bob's songs are considered classics, fueled by his deep faith and the real-life lessons taught him by his 30-odd years of playing everywhere from concert halls to street corners. Bob has appeared in concert at coffeehouses, colleges, festivals, bars, streets, homes and churches in 33 states, four Canadian provinces and England. His concerts have appeared in lists of the top five musical events of the year chosen by critics in the Boston and San Francisco Bay areas. In 1990, he was nominated as an Outstanding Folk Act by the Boston Music Awards.

Among his live radio credits are A Prairie Home Companion, A Mountain Stage, Our Front Porch, Sandy Bradley's Potluck, Folk Scene, West Coast Weekend, and Bound for Glory.

"It's his integrity. I always think of Bob as if Emerson and Thoreau had picked up acoustic guitars and gotten into songwriting. There's touches of Mark Twain and Buddy Holly in there, too."
- Tom Paxton

"While fans from Claudia Schmidt to June Tabor may have...incredible taste in picking songs...when they sing Massachusetts-based Bob Franke's tunes, neither they nor anyone else can come close to the emotional (and spiritual) depth Franke brings to his understated songs of the heart...In the folk singer-songwriter realm, Franke is simply the best."
- Express, Berkeley, California

Opener: John Statz  http://johnstatz.com/

In the first five months of 2009, John Statz played shows in far away places like Slovenia, Hungary, Italy, Austria, Alaska, and California. Travel is John's muse, and he has written songs in such locations as a train car headed to Sarajevo, Bosnia, the cozy mountain town of Winter Park, Colorado, and a lonely apartment in tiny Thomas, West Virginia. At the young age of 25, John has already performed in 28 different states, as well as in 6 other countries, and his first album, Dusk Came Slow, won a Madison Area Music Award in 2007 for "Folk/Americana Album of the Year". Stay tuned, an intergalactic tour is right around the corner.

Apr. 24 (Sat)
2010
8:00 pm

Brink Lounge
701 E. Washington
Suite 105
Madison, WI [MAP]

$14 in advance
$16 day of show

Don't forget! Non-perishable donations of food are collected for local food banks at all Mad Folk shows!